I am going to go to Chicago via San Francisco from Japan. I heard that transit at SF gets much time because of many passengers. I have only 90 min untill the flight to Chicago. Can I successfully make a connection in SF?

If the flight from Japan gets to San Francisco on time, then 90 minutes will be enough time to make a connecting flight to Chicago. If the connecting flight in San Francisco to Chicago IS NOT the same airline as the flight from Japan, you will have to hurry but you should still make it.

Sorry, Bernard, but I'm not sure you're right, since there's no way to know how long INS and Customs will hold up those on Naoko's flight.

A number of airline reservations agents have told me recently that smart passengers never book less than 2 hr. connections at international airports, in this day and age of increasing delays, etc. Any delay in the arrival of the flight from Japan could mean a much greater problem once the plane is on the ground (e.g., delays in baggage processing, passenger screening, etc.).

Naoko, if you are worried at all about making your connection, ask your travel agent to book you on a later flight to Chicago -- there are many every day from SFO. If you are traveling First Class or Business Class, the airline will probably make sure you get on the next available flight after you get through Customs, but for certainty, I'd rebook.

Millie - you're correct. I forgot about customs & INS. When I flew from Korea to New york in February the lines for customs were very long. My apologizes to Naoko.

I nominate Bernard for Most Civil of forum contributors. Wish all were as gracious as you are.

Enjoy Chicago, Naoko. Any questions about that fine city?